Lady Gaga’s Indonesia Concert Permit Denied

PRNewsFoto/Interscope Records(JAKARTA, Indonesia) — Lady Gaga’s June 3 concert in Jakarta, Indonesia — the subject of protests and complaints by that country’s hard-line Islamist organizations — will not go forward as scheduled. The Jakarta Globe reports a police spokesman as saying, “The National Police said verbally that [the concert] would not be permitted,” while the Jakarta Post reports that Gaga has become the first foreign artist ever denied a concert permit by Indonesian authorities.

A spokesperson for the National Police said that it denied the permit based on the police recommendation, as well as the protests from the Islamist groups, who had accused Gaga of being vulgar, corrupting the morals of the country’s youth, and worshiping Satan. One group said it would send crowds of its supporters to intercept Gaga at the airport and prevent her from staging the show.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of public support for the concert, which was sold out. The concert promoter told the Jakarta Globe that the idea that Gaga worships the devil is ridiculous. “Lady Gaga is a Catholic and she has many charitable works. How could she be a devil worshiper?” the promoter said. He also had promised that Gaga would tone down her provocative outfits for the show. “The concert will be different from video clips [online],” he explained. “It will not be vulgar.”